12 entryway designs for a warm welcome
A New York Prewar entryway celebrates the apartment’s Art Deco origins with a front door stripped down to its metal. Design: Time & Place Interiors
First impressions count. For your home, the room that sets the tone for the rest of your space is the entry, so its design shouldn’t be overlooked.
Beyond greeting house guests, an entryway or foyer serve to welcome you, the homeowner, back to your own personal space, or to comfortably see you off, any day of the year. The transition space should offer a spot to drop off your wallet or sunglasses when you come in, a nice mirror to check your hair before going out, and (ideally) a side chair or a small side stool to get your shoes on and off.
Extra touches like a floral arrangement and flattering lighting go a long way to set the foyer design’s welcoming mood, too. Keep clutter to a minimum by introducing only the most essential accessories — perhaps a natural horn tray for keys, or a vintage hook rack for hanging jackets.
To inspire you, I’ve put together a selection of 12 home entryway designs that employ vintage and modern decor, coordinated to perfection.
Of course, the most important greeting for your visitors will be your welcoming smile. But a bit of good design in the background doesn’t hurt, either.
Use the entryway to show off your design chops to guests. In this historic Manhattan apartment’s foyer, the repetition of black & white between the bone inlay console and art print is striking. Yet it’s balanced out with the unapologetic patina of a vintage Paul McCobb chair in the foreground.
Design: Carrie Hunt with Povero & Company / Photo: Noe DeWitt
The foyer is a great spot to place statement furniture to wow guests (and please yourself). In this designer’s SoHo loft, a contemporary handmade mirror by Zieta hangs above a Rose Uniacke console. Below is a vintage Billy Baldwin X-bench.
Design: Jessie Schuster / Photo: Douglas Friedman
Sometimes foyers can be dark, especially in New York apartments where daylight from a window doesn’t reach the front door. Doubling down on the dark can be effective in creating a dramatic entrance (pun intended!), with saturated paint. In this Greenwich Village Pre War, the blue feels powerful but minimal. The ceiling light is a 1930s fixture, and the furniture is a mix of Scandinavian and Italian Mid Century designs.
Design: Bachman Brown Design / Photo: Eric Petschek
To make design authentic, don’t focus too narrowly on a single style. Instead, try introducing an insouciant touch for one of the design elements to bring in a moment of surprise. Take inspiration from this Eames wire chair that sneaks into a traditional Victorian townhouse front hall.
Design: Paul West / Photo courtesy of The Modern House
Indeed, the most tastefully decorated spaces mix modern and traditional styles, and often have a quirky element to them. This Paris apartment opens to a humorous antique ostrich painting hanging above a mini floating coral-themed shelf.
Design: Dezso Interiors / Photo: Martina Maffini
Creative use of antiques always make for a charming welcome in a foyer design. Here’s a Brooklyn Heights front hall where a family’s heirloom church pew provides a spot to put on shoes. The marble table, with a mini round mirror above, adds to the charm.
Design: Sandeep Salter / Photo: Jonathan Pilkington
You can even treat your foyer as another place to show off your art collection, like in this Tribeca apartment where a an artwork by Elaine de Kooning hangs above a custom cabinet.
Design: Sandra Weingort / Photo: Adrian Gaut
Even if you have limited floor space to work with, the entrance is still a great spot to convey your personality through artworks. Here, a stylist created a mini art gallery in his small entryway, centered around an antique Japanese chest.
Design: Scott Newkirk / Photo: Chris Edwards
With some creativity, you can fashion an entryway even in a home that doesn’t have any dedicated foyer space at all. In this Brooklyn apartment, just a few feet of wall space have been decorated to build a buffer between the front door and the living room.
Design: Casey Kenyon / Photo: Roland Bello
By the way, “limited space” can mean teeny-tiny, where just one or two judicious design decisions are critical. Here’s a cute entryway where a vintage mirror hung artfully off of a peg rail does just the trick to craft a transition from the outdoors.
Design: Allprace / Photo: Jessica Alexander
But, if you have a Brooklyn brownstone with gorgeous architectural detailing in the foyer, all you really need are a sleek contemporary pendant lamp and a vintage rug to complete your design. But, it’s really important to get these selections right to do justice to a historic home.
Design: BarlisWedlick / Photo: Joshua McHugh
Welcome good design into your life.
Invest in your space, and you’ll feel both pride in welcoming guests and pleasure each time you return home. To discuss design possibilities for an entryway that’s comfortable and exciting, schedule a free 20-minute information call with Time & Place Interiors founder Ksenya Malina:
